Penance not Punishment

I grew up in a Catholic School thinking that if I would die immediately after receiving the Sacrament of Confession, I would go straight to heaven.

But then I realized that the Sacrament of Confession cannot erase the consequence of sin because the penitent will still receive temporal punishment in purgatory for the sins committed even if they were already forgiven.

This means that if Purgatory would be a prison facility, it is filled with incarcerated souls being punished for their sins that they were already forgiven.

From my humble understanding, if we pray for the souls in purgatory, we slowly relieve them from their temporal punishment or make there sentence shorter. The Souls in Purgatory cannot pray for themselves but can help those who pray for them. Some even believe that the scary visions of ghosts are actually visions of the tormented souls of relatives who are in purgatory asking for prayers.

Personally, I have lots of experience praying to the souls in purgatory asking simple favors like waking me up at dawn or helping me pass an exam. Nevertheless, if a particular soul would be able to go to Heaven because of your prayers, this Soul becomes a Saint and will be praying for you for the rest of your life and even after your life such as the time that you will be in purgatory if you get pass hell.

However, there is a way to avoid purgatory and this is where INDULGENCE becomes relevant to the picture. The Church actually accords a remission of the temporal punishment (due on account of sin) through an INDULGENCE granted by the Pope and the Bishops in their diocese.

Simply put, if the President or Prime Minister of a country can afford pardon of  sentence, the Pope and the Bishops can afford remission of Purgatory.

To make things more interesting, the Church actually allows you to waive that indulgence, in favor of a soul in purgatory.

The Conditions in order to get an indulgence are as follows:

1) Person must be in the state of grace by the completion of the indulgence.

2) The person must also want to gain the indulgence.

The Conditions for plenary indulgences:

1) Person must be in the state of grace by the completion of the indulgence.

2) The person must also want to gain the indulgence.

3) One is free from all attachment from sin, even venial sins

4) One receives the Sacraments of Penance and the Eucharist (Within 7 days of the indulgence)

5) One prays for the intentions of the Pope (Apostles Creed, 1 Our Father, and any other prayers)

If a person does not meet the plenary criteria but meets the criteria for a partial indulgence, the individual will obtain the partial indulgence. A plenary indulgence can be gained only once a day unless the person is in danger of death.

  The Catechism of St. Pius X states the following:

124 Q. What is an Indulgence?

A. An Indulgence is the remission of the temporal punishment due on account of our sins which have been already pardoned as far as their guilt is concerned — a remission accorded by the Church outside the sacrament of Penance.

125 Q. From whom has the Church received the power to grant Indulgences?

A. The Church has received the power to grant Indulgences from Jesus Christ.

126 Q. In what way does the Church by means of Indulgences remit this temporal punishment?

A. The Church by means of Indulgences remits this temporal punishment by applying to us the superabundant merits of Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Virgin and of the Saints, which constitute what is known as the Treasure of the Church.

127 Q. Who has the power to grant Indulgences?

A. The Pope alone has the power to grant Indulgences in the whole Church, and the Bishop in his own diocese, according to the faculty given him by the Pope.

128 Q. How many kinds of Indulgences are there?

A. Indulgences are of two kinds: plenary and partial.

129 Q. What is a plenary Indulgence?

A. A plenary Indulgence is that by which the whole temporal punishment due to our sins is remitted. Hence, if one were to die after having gained such an Indulgence, he would go straight to Heaven, being, as he is, perfectly exempt from the pains of Purgatory.

130 Q. What is a partial Indulgence?

A. A partial Indulgence is that by which is remitted only a part of the temporal punishment due to our sins.

131 Q. Why does the Church grant Indulgences?

A. In granting Indulgences the Church intends to aid our incapacity to expiate all the temporal punishment in this world, by enabling us to obtain by means of works of piety and Christian charity that which in the first ages Christians gained by the rigour of Canonical penances.

132 Q. What is meant by an Indulgence of forty or a hundred days or of seven years, and the like?

A. By an Indulgence of forty or a hundred days, or of seven years and the like, is meant the remission of so much of the temporal punishment as would have been paid by penances of forty or a hundred days, or seven years, anciently prescribed in the Church.

133 Q. What value should we set on Indulgences?

A. We should set the greatest value on Indulgences because by them we satisfy the justice of God and obtain possession of Heaven sooner and more easily.

134 Q. Which are the conditions necessary to gain Indulgences?

A. The conditions necessary to gain Indulgences are: (1) The state of grace (at least at the final completion of the work), and freedom from those venial faults, the punishment of which we wish to cancel; (2) The fulfilment of all the works the Church enjoins in order to gain the Indulgence; (3) The intention to gain it.

135 Q. Can Indulgences be applied also to the souls in Purgatory?

A. Yes, Indulgences can be applied also to the souls in Purgatory, when he who grants them says that they may be so applied.

136 Q. What is a Jubilee?

A. A Jubilee, which as a rule is granted every twenty-five years, is a Plenary Indulgence to which are attached many privileges and special concessions, such as that of being able to obtain absolution from certain reserved sins and from censures, and the commutation of certain vows.

To be worth one's SALT

Salt and Light- two essential things needed to survive in the ancient world and are still part and parcel for survival in our present world. I am struck on the analogy of salt in today’s Gospel.

Jesus tells us that we are the salt of the earth and losing our saltiness would make us only good to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. To gauge our “saltiness”, I found it good to compare what salt can do, vis-à-vis, what we can do.

Like salt that adds flavor to the food we eat, we do not lose our saltiness if we can make the mundane lives of the people around us better;

Like salt that has curative properties, we do not lose our saltiness if we can heal people as well as relationships;

Like salt that has preservative properties, we do not lose our saltiness if we can prevent corruption;

Like salt that was used for trading and commerce, we do not lose our saltiness if we can be a medium of goodwill;

Like the little quantity of salt that is used to fertilize an acidic land, we do not lose our saltiness if we can make our country fruitful in our little way;

Like salt that is used for cleansing and beautification, we do not lose our saltiness if we could be part of the solution for change and improvement.

We are the salt of the earth. Let us bear in mind that it does not matter whether we are more salty than the others but whether we have been put to good use.

 After all, saltiness, to be worthy, is meant to be experience.

Matthew 5:13-16 

Salt and Light

    ¹³ “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

   ¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

Following without Leaving

Several years ago, I had the chance to immerse in an ecumenical community in Taize, France. A community composed of Christian pilgrims from different denominations, mostly young people, backpackers, professionals, teenagers and young adults who came from different parts of the world and from different walks of life.

It was the “Woodstock” for the Christian youth, there was singing, praying, and even partying. We were living in tents and bunkers and everyone was welcome. We were a community and everyone had a share in the work to run the place.

Some of us stayed there for years, others for days. Regardless thereof, it was long enough to give you an insight of it was like to follow the community of the disciples of Jesus. It was not only composed of twelve men, but an entire community of believers composed of men and women. They were not living on charity but also working for their own sustenance.

In this Sunday's Gospel, Mathew tells us about Discipleship. He describes to us how some of the newly recruited disciples, who happened to be fishermen, followed Jesus. 

I used to think that Jesus purposely called fishermen since they would be the "Fishers of men." But I believe that the real intent of the Gospel is to show that the call is given to everyone regardless of your profession -that even ordinary fishermen are being called for a greater purpose.

Discipleship likewise requires leaving one's present state. Peter and Andrew left their nets and followed Jesus.  James and John left their father to follow Jesus. But leaving does not mean abandonment, rather it means detaching oneself so that one could transcend higher.

Peter, Andrew, James and John did not stop working when they followed Jesus, nor did they abandon their families. The disciples were not living on charity, rather they continued to work, but this time for a different reason. They were no longer working for the salvation of their flesh but for the salvation of souls. They were no longer working only for themselves or for their immediate family members but for the cause that Jesus taught them. This is what separates a pilgrim from a "disciple" - the sense of purpose.

  

Today Jesus is calling us once again, but he is not asking us to quit our jobs and abandon our families but to transcend higher. He is calling us to be "the Christ" in our jobs and in our families and in whatever we do. A higher calling for a greater purpose.

Matthew 4: 12 - 23
12	Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee;
13	and leaving Nazareth he went and dwelt in Caper'na-um by the sea, in the territory of Zeb'ulun and Naph'tali,
14	that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
15	"The land of Zeb'ulun and the land of Naph'tali, toward the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles --
16	the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned."
17	From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
18	As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.
19	And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."
20	Immediately they left their nets and followed him.
21	And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zeb'edee and John his brother, in the boat with Zeb'edee their father, mending their nets, and he called them.
22	Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.
23	And he went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every infirmity among the people.

EDUCATED to be WISE

"The pregnancy of a virgin" and "The birth of "the Christ" in Bethlehem, who would save the chosen people" were all foretold by the prophets hundreds of years before it happened. Even Mary heard of it when she was young.

It was a prophecy so great that even non-jews or "gentiles" believed it as well. It was an event that was certain to happen, unfortunately  ordinary people had no way to determine when exactly it would happen.

Some shepherds were fortunate because they heard the news about Christ's birth and got directions directly from an angel in finding Jesus. But for the rest of the ordinary people, they waited passively, hoping that they could live long enough to witness the event. 

Aside from the ordinary people, there were also educated people at that time who studied different disciplines of astronomy, philosophy, medicine, law and even magic or sorcery. 

These people, if they were coming from the East, were called the "magi," because they studied what the ordinary men could not fathom. Believe it or not, this is where the word "magic" comes from. But to call them magicians would be demeaning because they were the best at what they do, so the title "King" ( not referring to royalty) would be more appropriate, after all they were "Kings"in their own right.

But being educated does not necessarily make one wise, so why did Mathew label the latter as "wise men." 

They were wise  because instead of passively waiting for the coming of Jesus Christ, they used their intelligence, education, resources and whatever they had to find Christ. Some of them had to chart the movement of the stars or employed astronomers to locate Christ in Bethlehem. They would have used the GPS if it was available then.

They were wise because even if they were not Jews or part of the so-called "chosen people to be saved", they still paid homage to Jesus Christ our Lord.

They were wise because they likewise prepared gifts for Jesus Christ so that they could perhaps be remembered when they would ask for his help.

What's interesting is the fact that the bible never mentioned that they were limited to three wise men.

As a matter of fact, some of these wise men are still living among us today, inviting us to join them, to use our time, education, intelligence, resources and whatever we have to find Christ and to pay homage to him.

So if ever you happen to be invited to join them, make a wise decision to accept the invitation.

Gospel  Mt. 2: 1-12

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea,
in the days of King Herod,
behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying,
“Where is the newborn king of the Jews?
We saw his star at its rising
and have come to do him homage.”
When King Herod heard this,
he was greatly troubled,
and all Jerusalem with him.
Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people,
He inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea,
for thus it has been written through the prophet:
And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
since from you shall come a ruler,
who is to shepherd my people Israel.”
Then Herod called the magi secretly
and ascertained from them the time of the star’s appearance.
He sent them to Bethlehem and said,
“Go and search diligently for the child.
When you have found him, bring me word,
that I too may go and do him homage.”
After their audience with the king they set out.
And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them,
until it came and stopped over the place where the child was.
They were overjoyed at seeing the star,
and on entering the house
they saw the child with Mary his mother.
They prostrated themselves and did him homage.
Then they opened their treasures
and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod,
they departed for their country by another way.